The invention relates generally to pressure sensitive adhesive tapes; and more particularly to pressure sensitive adhesive tapes used as a fastening means for securing a grip to a shaft or handle.
In general, pressure sensitive adhesive tapes are used as a facile fastening means, relying on the nominally tacky surface of the adhesive to effect a bond between two or more substrates. For instance, double sided tapes are used as a fastening means to adhere a golf club grip to the shaft of a golf club. The grip is affixed on the shaft by first wrapping the shaft with a strip of double sided tape, wherein one side of the double sided tape is adhered to the shaft and the other side of the tape has the adhesive exposed such that it can adhere to the interior wall of the tubular shaped grip. Typically, a grip is composed of a flexible rubber-like material which will yield, causing it to deform, when stressed under the force of fitting the grip on the shaft. Therefore, before the grip can be slid onto the shaft, the exposed adhesive has to be rendered temporarily tack free, to a point where it is actually slippery. Conventional pressure sensitive adhesives, containing natural rubber, can be rendered temporarily slippery by coating them with an organic solvent, such as lighter fluid or lacquer thinner, just prior to putting on the grip. The organic solvent partially solvates the surface of the adhesive, which makes it slippery. The gripping process is further facilitated by applying the organic solvent to the interior wall of the grip. While wetted with the solvent, the grip is pushed onto the shaft. As the solvent dries off, the adhesive looses its slippery character, gradually regaining its pressure sensitive character, producing adherence of the grip to the shaft through the tape.
Organic solvents are generally perceived by the public as being toxic to the environment, and many solvents are considered hazardous to the user as a source of fire, and are frequently identified as being a health risks. An improved gripping process would be one in which the exposed adhesive of the double sided pressure sensitive tape did not require being wetted with an organic solvent prior to sliding on the grip. For instance, if the adhesive could be rendered temporarily slippery through the application of water, this would eliminate the need for an organic solvent. Like the double sided tape with the conventional adhesive, the adhesive must regain its pressure sensitivity after the grip is in position, therein producing adherence of the grip to the shaft through the tape. The instant invention is a pressure sensitive adhesive tape having an adhesive that is imbued with this anisothropic response to water, paradoxically exhibiting both tack and slip, responding functionally to the concentration of water.